Daniel Carr

Professor Daniel Carr is known for his contributions to the field of statistical graphics. These contributions include the creation of new graphics designs and dynamic visualization software. The challenges that motivated the designs have come from a variety of fields such as genomics, proteomics, life sciences, and environmental monitoring.

Carr’s statistics career started in 1976 at Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratories. At first, he was involved in the analysis of animal experiments, calibration of measurement devices, and modeling of monitoring data. In the 1980s, he worked with a small team of statisticians, computer scientists, and computer engineers on the Analysis of Large Data Sets project. The research publications and presentations brought visibility.

Carr was appointed chair-elect when the Statistical Graphics Section of the American Statistical Association was created in 1986. He continued to serve the section for many years in roles such as Program Chair and editor of the graphics section in the Statistical Computing and Statistical Graphics newsletter. Carr was elected ASA Fellow in 1992.

After joining Mason in 1990, Carr interacted with visionary colleagues and researchers at federal agencies. A 1992 collaborative NSF proposal yielded a virtual reality laboratory in the Center for Computational Statistics. On sabbatical at the National Cancer Institute, he was a member of a team that developed the usability-assessed State Cancer Control Profiles website. Team members received NIH merit awards for their contributions to cancer control planning. Carr has created and taught statistical graphics and visualization courses at the 400 to 800 levels, served on numerous dissertation committees and seen 11 of his PhD students graduate.

Research

2014 - 2015: Uncertainty in Spatial Date: Identification Visualization and Utilization. Funded by the University of Texas at Dallas.

2008 - 2010: Curriculum Design in Data Sciences. Funded by National Science Foundation.

2005 - 2008: Visual Analytic Tools for Networks and Graphs with Attention Given to Data Synthesis and Evaluation. Funded by Office of Naval Research.

Research Interests

Data mining 
Statistical graphics
Knowledge visualization
Data exploration
Analysis of massive data sets

Degrees

• PhD, Statistics, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• MS, Statistics, Oregon State University
• MEd, Counselling, Idaho State University
• BA, Mathematics, Whitman College